State Pride

It's fairly obvious that I am overflowing with state pride. I love my home state of MN, quite possibly because I haven't lived there in 17 years, but also because it is a great state with the BEST. STATE FAIR. EVER.  I have impressed people with my knowledge of MN facts (state bird: loon, state flower: lady slipper, land of 10K lakes, home to companies such as Target, Hormel, General Mills, 3M--you wouldn't have Post-its if it weren't for MN...)

I also love NY, which is my birth state and residence of the past 17 years.  (But really, who doesn't love New York or at least the city?)

Well, last month I went to Texas.  I have to say, Texas pride is overwhelming down there. Texans love Texas like no others love their state.  It's almost scary, and it makes me feel like a poser for all my state pride.  I haven't been able to figure exactly why they love Texas so much. The Bush family? Oil? Cattle? Football? Texas Toast?

ADDENDUM:
Another thing I have noticed is that people from Utah do not have a lot of state pride. I met three different Utah-ans this summer (after my trip out there), and when I found out they were from the beehive state I exclaimed, "I LOVED Utah! It's such a beautiful place!"  Only to be looked at incredulously.  Now, if someone said to me that they loved MN or NY, I would respond, "Me too!"